1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus capable of switching a line to an external image processing terminal.
2. Related Background Art
A system which allows the use of a facsimile apparatus as a modem of an external information processing terminal (computer) and the data communication by the external information processing terminal through the facsimile apparatus has been known. In this case, it is necessary to arrange the modem for the facsimile communication to operate as the modem for the computer communication.
A personal computer in which a modem for the data communication is built in has been known. On the other hand, a conventional facsimile apparatus is provided with a terminal for connecting a conventional telephone set or an automatic answering recording telephone set and the facsimile apparatus selectively switches a line to the telephone set or the facsimile apparatus.
It has thus been contemplated to connect a computer having a modem for the data communication with a terminal for connecting a telephone set in a facsimile apparatus and set the facsimile apparatus to a manual receive mode or a speech mode to connect the line to the computer in order to attain the data communication by the computer.
However, in the prior art facsimile apparatus, only a mechanism to selectively switch one line to the speech by the external telephone set and the facsimile communication by the facsimile apparatus is provided and proper automatic switching of the data communication by the computer and the facsimile communication is not attained even if the computer is connected instead of the external telephone set.